Quote of the day

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment:

“Scientists are not very good at framing the unknowns in ways that are meaningful to the decision-making process. Too often when you are trying to bring your research into the policymaking domain, uncertainty can be used as [an] excuse for inaction. Some have downplayed uncertainties not because they are trying to pull the wool over your eyes but because they are afraid they would be amplified by those who have vested interests in resisting potential policy responses. We need to get better at explaining uncertainties.”

Sceptics would argue that capability to deal with uncertainty varies a lot from science to science. I personally float in and out of scepticism, depending on how close I am to getting a job.